Ben Berke
WickedLocal
Brockton, MA, United States
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Past articles by Ben:
Hanson woman not allowed to vote wearing Black Lives Matter mask
State election officials intervened to clarify that support for the protest movement does not constitute the type of campaigning banned inside → Read More
Hanson woman not allowed to vote in election while wearing Black Lives Matter mask
State election officials intervened to clarify that support for the protest movement does not constitute the type of campaigning banned inside → Read More
Rooftop gastropub planned for vacant downtown Brockton warehouse falls through
The mayor's office said the developer eyeing the Corcoran Supply Building backed out because of environmental cleanup concerns. → Read More
Defense lawyers question Plymouth County district attorney's record on exposing cops with credibility issues
“I think there’s a lot of burying your head in the sand,” said one defense attorney. “The DA’s not going to ask if an → Read More
‘Young Black Queen’ fights for change in policing in Brockton
The USA TODAY Network’s Leaders of Change project identified more than 40 national and local activists, artists, filmmakers, politicians, athletes → Read More
If history were different, Cape Cod Canal might have flowed through Brockton
BROCKTON – Starting in 1909, the Cape Cod Canal was carved through 17 miles of earth in Bourne and Sandwich, shaving some 100 miles off the boat → Read More
Brockton’s Cape Verdean Association a lifeline for immigrants struggling with bureaucracy during pandemic
The coronavirus pandemic has expanded the association’s responsibilities from organizing youth programs, English classes and cultural events to → Read More
Sheriff defends tie after critics draw comparisons to Confederate flag
DARTMOUTH – Sheriff Thomas Hodgson, a Republican whose support for President Donald Trump’s immigration policies have made him a political lightning rod among Massachusetts Democrats, is no stranger to controversy. In 2017, he volunteered to send his inmates to build Trump’s long-promised Mexican border wall, and, this May, the sheriff came under close scrutiny again after ICE detainees in his… → Read More
Sheriff defends tie after critics draw comparisons to Confederate flag
DARTMOUTH – Sheriff Thomas Hodgson, a Republican whose support for President Donald Trump’s immigration policies have made him a political → Read More
Mass. gas station chain provides free fuel to health care workers on Memorial Day
The owner says he wanted to give something back to people who are risking their lives during the coronavirus pandemic. → Read More
'Christmas but worse': Brockton letter carriers deliver 9,000 packages in one day during coronavirus outbreak
BROCKTON – “It’s Christmas but worse.” That’s what postmaster Tom McSweeney is hearing on the floor at Brockton’s USPS headquarters, where a growing force of 135 employees sort through the packages transporting the bulk of Brockton’s retail commerce in the time of coronavirus. McSweeney said postal workers recently delivered 9,000 packages in a single day in Brockton, a remarkable figure for a… → Read More
'Christmas but worse': Brockton letter carriers deliver 9,000 packages in one day during coronavirus outbreak
BROCKTON – “It’s Christmas but worse.” That’s what postmaster Tom McSweeney is hearing on the floor at Brockton’s USPS headquarters, where a growing force of 135 employees sort through the packages transporting the bulk of Brockton’s retail commerce in the time of coronavirus. McSweeney said postal workers recently delivered 9,000 packages in a single day in Brockton, a remarkable figure for a… → Read More
New World Gas offering free fuel to health care workers on Memorial Day
A statewide chain of gas stations will offer free fuel to health care workers on Memorial Day, in what the business’ founder Jay Patel called a rare opportunity to give back to the customers who’ve supported him for more than two decades. Patel, who founded the network of gas stations that became New World Gas in Brockton during the 1990s, said free gas will be available not just to doctors and… → Read More
New World Gas offering free fuel to health care workers on Memorial Day
A statewide chain of gas stations will offer free fuel to health care workers on Memorial Day, in what the business’ founder Jay Patel called a rare opportunity to give back to the customers who’ve supported him for more than two decades. Patel, who founded the network of gas stations that became New World Gas in Brockton during the 1990s, said free gas will be available not just to doctors and… → Read More
Brockton Fair, annual tradition since 1874, canceled due to coronavirus
The fair would have returned for its 146th season this July. → Read More
Brockton Fair, annual tradition since 1874, canceled due to coronavirus
The fair would have returned for its 146th season this July. → Read More
Bristol County sheriff posts prisoner 'alert' tool after judge releases ICE detainees from his custody
DARTMOUTH – Forty-three detainees held by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement have been released into house arrest from Bristol County’s jails as of Tuesday morning, marking one of the most sweeping depopulation efforts in carceral complexes across the state. ICE agreed to re-assign at least six detainees into house arrest. The rest were released by the order of U.S. District Court Judge… → Read More
ICE detainees released from crowded Bristol County jail as tensions rise amid coronavirus crisis
Nine undocumented immigrants without criminal records left the facility in Dartmouth this week. Approximately 130 remain incarcerated. → Read More
A TEARFUL GOODBYE: Family, friends say farewell to four loved ones who died in Florida crash
Hundreds of family and friends gathered Saturday at St. Francis Xavier Church in Weymouth for the funeral of four members of a South Shore family who were → Read More
Hundreds attend funeral for Mass. family members killed in crash near Disney World
WEYMOUTH – Hundreds gathered on Saturday morning for the funeral of Whitman’s Julie Smith, her children Jaxon and Scarlett, and her mother Josephine Fay, all of whom died following a car crash that claimed lives from three generations of the family during a trip to Disney World earlier this month. Four members of the family survived the crash without injuries – father Shane Smith, 43,… → Read More